Former Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole asked a now dismissed club attendant for a sticky substance for baseballs during his 2019 season, while Justin Verlander took pity on the man after his dismissal for supplying the supplies, according to court documents obtained on Thursday.
On January 17, 2019, Cole texted Brian “Bubba” Harkins, a former club attendant at Angel Stadium, asking “if you could help me with this complicated situation” and adding a winking emoji.
“We won’t see them until May,” wrote Cole, “but we will have some road games in April that will be in places with cold weather. What I had last year crashes when it gets cold. “
Harkins was fired on March 3, 2020, after a Major League Baseball investigation found that he supplied opponent pitchers with various sticky substances that helped them to grasp. Harkins filed a lawsuit against the Angels and Major League Baseball in September, claiming he was a “scapegoat” for the league’s efforts to crack down on foreign substances.
In a conversation with Harkins on March 7, Verlander reportedly said he wanted to support Harkins publicly, but “with the scrutiny that his team is under control, it will be very difficult”.
“(Verlander) talked to Mike Fyers (sic) about this and other pitchers as well,” wrote Harkins in notes summarizing the phone call he had with Verlander. “Justin knows on the MLB side that they are discovering that teams have been hiring chemists and doing studies to create more advanced products to increase turnover.
“There are also organizations that are hiring free agents and telling them that they can increase their rotation rate for guys who don’t use things and who can increase their rotation rate and help them as pitchers to convince them to sign with them. “
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Although technically against major league rules, pitchers have long used foreign substances to better hold the ball, while referees and opponents close their eyes. Better footprints mean better control – and batters are better off when pitchers can control their arsenal of difficult pitches.
The lawsuit claimed that the Angels had evidence involving Cole, Verlander, Edwin Jackson, Max Scherzer, Felix Hernandez, Corey Kluber, Joba Chamberlain, Adam Wainwright and Tyler Chatwood.
In November, the Major League Baseball and the Angels filed a motion seeking to reject the action. Harkins and his lawyers challenged on Thursday with 373 pages of evidence to support the case that continues. Cole’s text message to Harkins is among them. The same goes for a memo to league owners, general managers and managers of former MLB senior vice president Chris Young, dated February 28, 2020.
Young, now general manager of the Texas Rangers, recalled that “club employees are strictly prohibited from providing, applying, creating, hiding or otherwise facilitating the use of foreign substances by players on the field.” Harkins was fired three days later.
Verlander sent a text message to Harkins on March 6, saying that he “was sorry to hear that.” Verlander asked Harkins to call him to talk about something he heard from teammate Martín Maldonado.
According to Harkins ‘notes about his conversation with Verlander, Maldonado told Verlander that the Angels’ club attendants believed that Verlander handed Harkins over to the MLB. Verlander said in the text message to Harkins that “Maldonado just told me that he heard something that is not entirely true!”
Verlander and Harkins spoke on March 7. The conversation notes were included in the evidence. According to Harkins, Verlander said “it looks like his name came from the Astros investigation”.
“Justin can’t believe it was bulls — going to the media,” wrote Harkins in his conversation notes. “(Verlander) says that Astros have suffered with media and players going against players.”
Launcher Mike Fiers, with whom Harkins claims Verlander spoke, denounced the Houston plaque theft scandal in November 2019, leading to the “scrutiny” that apparently banned Verlander from publicly defending Harkins.